Tbilisi. The Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics publishes a statement regarding a boycott of the Patriarchate against ''Rustavi 2''. ''No matter how critical and painful for other groups is a topic that a journalist prepares, the freedom of expression should be respected. The boycott announced by the Patriarchate hinders usage of this particular right, turns the specific journalist and entire media, in general, into a target for aggression. The Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics addresses the Government to protect safety of journalists, besides, to state its position and give an example to other groups of society via continuing cooperation with this TV Company'' – is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: qartia.ge

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers' Association states that Nika Gorgiladze, who got offended on May 17 at the anti-homophobic rally conducted in front of the administration building of the Government of Georgia, is under a real threat. It turned out that Nika Gorgiladze constantly receives threatening messages through a social network, as well as he is a victim of aggression in the street and public transport. GYLA calls on the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Prosecutor’s Office to investigate mentioned facts and use special safety measures to protect Nika. Read more... Source:The website of the organization

Tbilisi. On March 18, 2018, Tbilisi Civil Court restricted the rights of the employees of ,''Tbilisi Transport Company'' to strike.  ''The aim of the metro workers’ strike was to require dignified work conditions and payment. GYLA believes the decision of the court to be unsubstantiated and contradictory to the constitution of Georgia and to the international standards/tools of the Human Rights, noteworthy Georgia is a part of mentioned international standards. The decision also contains a number of errors, which is the reason for the unfair restriction of the underground train drivers’ constitutional write of strike'', is noted in the statement. Read more…  Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. According to the Public Defender, the legislative package restricts freedom of creativity. It should be emphasized that recent developments, in particular the initiatives aimed at criminalizing insult of religious feelings and the case of Aiisa, indicate that there is a tendency of restricting freedom of expression in the country, which is extremely unfortunate. The abovementioned draft law basically repeats the out-of-date edition of the existing, so-called ''dead norm'' of the law, which is incompatible with freedom of expression. It should be noted that, at present, no agency is entitled to restrict freedom of creativity based on the abovementioned norm, while the main novelty of the draft law is formulation of the restriction as a new law and reference to the enforcement mechanism, which makes it applicable in practice. Read more…  Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. The Public Defender of Georgia, within the framework of a resolution of the Human Rights Council on "Cooperation with Georgia”, has provided information about human rights situation on the occupied territories of Georgia to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Information contains facts of violation of human rights revealed in the last period of time in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region, including those of breach of freedom of movement and unlawful detention at lines of separation, violation of education and property rights and restriction of freedom of expression, as well as the case of Archil Tatunashvili and pressure kept against Tamar Mearakishvili, a civil activist. The High Commissioner for Human Rights will give an oral speech, including about Georgia, at the 38th, while present a written report at the 39th sessions of the Human Rights Council.  Read more… Source:The website of the Public Defender

Tbilisi. ''The decision of the Tbilisi City Court, which restricts Metro drivers (NNLE Unity 2013) to the right to strike, is a harmful and dangerous precedent for labor rights'', - states the Public Defender of Georgia. The statement, which was made by the Public Defender due to restricting Metro drivers to the right to strike, contains a review of circumstances related to this fact and decisions made by the court. Read more… Source: The website of the Public Defender

Activities of Public Defender of Georgia in the Field of Protection of Human Rights of IDPs Reflected in ENNHRI’s Action Plan. An action plan for strengthening the mandate of national human rights institutions in protecting the rights of IDPs was drafted at the meeting held by the European Network of Human Rights National Institutions (ENNHRI) in Kyiv on May 22-27, 2018. The activities of the Georgian Public Defender's Office were used as one of the best practices in the mentioned document. In full  Source: The organization’s webpage

Tbilisi. Institute for development of freedom of information publishes visualization of ''statistics on deprivation and termination of status for internally displaces persons''. In 2014-2017, 1,232 persons were deprived of the IDP status. The most lost their status in 2015 – 625; In 2014-2017, a total of 26,752 persons lost the status of IDPs. This was mostly due to the lack of compulsory registration in 2014; In the following years, 5,567 persons were restored their status. Read more…  Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) publishes statistics on domestic violence in Georgia. The largest number of domestic violence cases were documented in Tbilisi, Imereti and Racha-Lechkhumi and Kakheti; Beginning with 2015, the number of domestic violence cases was increasing by 50%, which indicates a sharp increase in the number of willing complaints; The indicator of the number of cases closed decreased sharply in 2016 when compared to previous years; Compared to previous years, the number of restrictive orders issues by the police increased the most sharply in 2015 and 2017. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. ''Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center'' (EMC) and the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association will prepare a legal appraisal of the May 12 developments. ''Developments of the May 12 night require proper documenting and appraisal, taking into consideration the extent of police actions, mass arrests and facts of the use of force by the police. For this purpose, ''Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center'' (EMC) and the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association will thoroughly study developments of the May 12 night and those connected with this date'' - the disseminated statement reads. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. ''Coalition for Children and Youth'' calls on the Government to take effective steps to protect children from homophobic bullying and violence. "As a network of 41 organizations working on children welfare issues, ''Coalition for Children and Youth'' condemns stigmatization of adolescents regardless their gender identity, physical and intellectual capabilities, ethnic and religious origin and belonging'' – is noted in the statement released by the Coalition. Read more… Source:phrgeorgia.wordpress.com

Tbilisi. Public Defender published a Statement on International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. "International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia is marked on May 17, which is is related to the removal of homosexuality from the list of diseases by the World Health Organization”, - mentioned the Public Defender, - "Homophobic and transphobic attitudes in Georgia are closely linked to the rate of violence and discrimination against the LGBT+ community. The practice of the Public Defender shows that LGBT+ is one of the most vulnerable groups in terms of realization of the right to equality. Stereotypes and prejudices in the society daily endanger realization of important rights, such as the right to education, right to work, access to healthcare and various services, and freedom of peaceful assembly”. In full  Source: The organization’s webpage

Tbilisi. ''Transparency International Georgia'' (TI) considers that a legislative initiative, registered by Eka Beselia and Levan Gogichaishvili, endangers freedom of expression. The organization has released a special statement in this regard. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. On May 11, 2018, the Public Defender of Georgia filed an amicus curiae brief with Tbilisi Court of Appeals, in which she discussed the importance of neutral evidence in the criminal case of G.Sh., who was arrested and stands accused for illegal purchase and possession of drugs. The amicus curiae brief of the Public Defender analyzes the practices of the European Court of Human Rights and national courts and the importance of neutral evidence, by considering that: 1. The evidence adduced by the prosecutor was based only on the testimonies of police officers and procedural documents drawn up by them; 2. Doubts were raised regarding the credibility of these evidence after the defense adduced its evidence. 3. Even though it was possible, no neutral evidence has been adduced, which would prove or rule out the parties' versions. In full  Source: The organization’s webpage

Kakheti. On May 11, 2018, representatives of the Department of Gender of the Public Defender's Office, the Center for Child’s Rights and the Telavi Office of the Regional Department held an informational meeting with social workers and psychologists of the Social Service Agency of the Kakheti region (Telavi, Akhmeta, Gurjaani, Lagodekhi, Kvareli and Sagarejo).  The role of social workers relating to the cases of domestic violence, early marriage and bullying was discussed at the meeting. Read more… Source: www.ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. On March 28, 2018, the Public Defender appealed to the Batumi Mayor with a recommendation and requested annulment of the decision on refusing issuance of a permit for the construction of a mosque. ''As a result of studying the case, it was established that the Batumi Mayor made a negative decision without consideration of substantial circumstances or proper justification. It is widely known that the Orta Jame mosque in Batumi is overcrowded and prayers have to participate in religious rituals in the open air. The Muslim community has been demanding construction of a new mosque for a long time and this issue has been reflected in the annual reports of the Public Defender. Taking into consideration all of the above, the Public Defender requested the Mayor to cancel the negative decision and to make a new, substantiated decision as a result of examining the circumstances of the case. The Mayor of Batumi did not implement the recommendation of the Public Defender, which is further delaying the restitution of the violated right and significantly damages the local Muslim community'', is noted in the statement. In full…  Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. On February 17, 2018, the Public Defender of Georgia appealed to the Director of the Social Service Agency with a recommendation and requested him to reimburse for the social assistance that had been confiscated from a citizen in favor of the budget and legalized by law. The Social Service Agency implemented the Public Defender’s recommendation and made a decision to to pay the 500 GEL, incorrectly transferred by E.B. to the treasury account, back to him/her. In full… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. GYLA defended blind V.K. whose registration in the database of socially vulnerable people had been cancelled due to the fact that a declaration, containing information about the person, was not complete. GYLA, on behalf of the disabled person, addressed the Public Defender in 2017 and requested to determine the fact of discrimination. The Public Defender detected discrimination on the ground of disability and elaborated respective recommendation for the Ministry of Health. Read more… Source:The website of the organization

Tbilisi. The Human Rights Center conducted a press conference regarding the case of Archil Tatunashvili. The organization calls on the Government of Georgia ''to actively use all international mechanisms in order to investigate the case of murder of Archil Tatunashvili effectively''. It should be noted that the Human Rights Center is preparing a lawsuit against Russia to be submitted to the European Court of Human Rights. Read more… Source: The website of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. On May 7 the Public Defender of Georgia presented a monitoring report on the implementation of the Action Plan 2015-2016 of the State Strategy for Civic Equality and Integration. When assessing the effectiveness of the programs implemented and the policy pursued by the state in the field of civic integration and protection of the rights of ethnic minorities, the Council of National Minorities under the Public Defender found that information provided to national minorities about state services and efforts of state agencies was insufficient. It is necessary to promote participation of national minorities in the decision-making process and increase their representation, ratify the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages and promote the participation of women of national minorities in civil and political processes. Access to quality, preschool, higher or vocational education, supply of multilingual textbooks, training and retraining of teachers and their replacement with new staff, represent challenges in the regions populated by national minorities; the rate of teachers’ failure in qualification tests is high at schools of minority languages. In full  Source: jobs.ge

Tbilisi. The Coalition believes that the Code of Administrative Offences of Georgia needs fundamental revision to meet the standards set by Georgia’s international agreements, as well as to safeguard that the Code is not used to illegitimately deprive individuals of their constitutional rights. ''The State’s inaction during the past two years makes us think that the State is in no hurry to implement the reform and that, in the form of the current Code of Administrative Offences, retains a strong mechanism for unjustified intervention into the right to peaceful assembly and expression. For this reason, we request that you use the mechanisms provided for by your mandate and study and evaluate the practice of restriction of freedom of peaceful assembly and expression in Georgia by the means of the legislation on administrative offences. We think this would contribute significantly to the reform of the legislation on administrative offences. We stand ready to provide you with additional information in case of interest'', is noted in the statement. In full… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. The Public Defender of Georgia, met with Vakhtang Gomelauri, the Head of the State Security Service. At the first working meeting, the parties discussed the recommendations developed by the Public Defender's Office for the State Security Service. The Public Defender got information about the main directions and priorities of the State Security Service. During the meeting was discussed the issues of cooperation and talked about future plans. In full  Source: The organization’s webpage